St Johnstone had the psychological advantage in their first-ever Scottish Cup final and one of the goal-scoring heroes that day is hoping it will be the same in their second.
Seven years ago Steven Anderson was part of a Saints side that had found the secret to beating Dundee United and they translated the confidence they got from previous successes into victory in the biggest game of their careers.
Now it’s the turn of Callum Davidson’s men to tap into the good vibes created by a run of three successive wins against Hibs and attempt to ensure they too can sustain that head-to-head momentum when silverware is on the line.
“You could look at the league positions and say Hibs are favourites,” said Anderson who opened the scoring in 2014 with a back post header just before half-time.
“Or you could make a case for St Johnstone being favourites because they’ve already won a cup and they’ve got a good record against Hibs.
“The whole set-up for Hibs – training ground, stadium, fan base, budget – is of a bigger club than St Johnstone.
“That was the same with United.
“But in terms of results over a period of time, we got the better of them. That’s been the case with St Johnstone against Hibs recently.”
Jackie McNamara had a young, attack-minded side, full of players who would go on to advance their careers after leaving Tannadice.
Anderson and his Saints team-mates shackled them masterfully at Celtic Park and Davidson’s men will be aiming to do the same with Kevin Nisbet, Martin Boyle and others.
“We knew that we were a hard team to break down and that if we could keep their better players quiet, we’d have a real chance,” said the Forfar defender, hoping to make a comeback from injury in League Two at the start of next season.
“There were guys like Nadir Ciftci, Stuart Armstrong, Gary Mackay-Steven and Andy Robertson. All of them went on to bigger and better things.
“They could even afford to leave Ryan Gauld on the bench.
“But we had the experience and we nullified their threat – and rode our luck at times, which you need to do in a cup final.
“St Johnstone will be looking to do the same with the likes of Kevin Nisbet and Martin Boyle.”
It will come as no surprise that a man who took enormous pride in clean-sheets has been hugely impressed with the central defensive unit of the current Saints side.
“Obviously I know Jase (Jason Kerr) and Gordy (Liam Gordon) better than Jamie McCart but all three of them have done really well,” said Anderson, who works with Graham Pest Control.
“They have different strengths which complement each other.
“I always said that Jase is a great example of a modern centre-back, bringing the ball out from the back.
“Gordy is maybe more of an old-fashioned defender, organising and winning his battles. It doesn’t get spoken about as much but he’s good with ball as well.
“They’re both quick and they’re both strong.
“I only played against Jamie McCart when I was at Partick so I’ve not seen as much of him but he gives balance to that back-three as well with his ability on the ball and being left-sided.
“There’s really good cohesion – Gordy in the middle and the two wider centre-backs stepping in to play, which Cal wants them to do.”
Anderson, a former Saints captain, was still at McDiarmid Park when the armband was handed to Kerr.
“Jason was the captain towards the end of my time,” he said.
“Obviously I didn’t play many games under him but he had the respect of the dressing room even then and he had a lot of good people around him – Ginge (Liam Craig), myself, Fozzy (Richard Foster) and others.
“We were all there to help him.
“You don’t have to be a ranter and raver. Cuptie (Dave Mackay) wasn’t. He led by example on the pitch and that seems to be Jason as well.
“It shouldn’t be just one person organising and talking – that should be everybody’s job.
“Jason’s not a daft laddie. He’s been there long enough to know how the club works and how the chairman works. He would have had a good idea of all the off-field stuff that goes with the captaincy.
“He’s taken it on and he’s certainly thriving with it.”
Anderson added: “We were a very tight bunch, who had played together for a long period of time.
“It will definitely help this team that you’ve got guys like Ginge, Muzz (Murray Davidson), Macca (Steven MacLean) and Callum who have kept that going.
“It’s one of the reasons St Johnstone have been so successful over a long period of time now.
“They’ve got a method of appointing managers and of recruitment – bringing in people who have a point to prove.
“St Johnstone have always picked up players who have been released by other clubs. And now they’ve also got young, hungry players in the side as well.”
Murray Davidson might not be young in football terms but the man who hopes to make it third time lucky and play in, and win, a final with Saints will certainly not lack hunger.
“I’d love for this to be the day Muzz gets a winners’ medal,” said Anderson.
“Everybody knows he’s missed two cup finals for St Johnstone.
“I just hope everything goes well this week and on Saturday and he gets that medal at last.
“Muzz has brought so much to the club.
“People don’t understand what he’s put his body through – the number of injuries he would play through under Tommy (Wright).
“You’d be saying: ‘Muzz, you’re going to do yourself serious damage’ but he would keep playing on.
“He’s one of the fittest boys I’ve ever seen. Muzz was way ahead of everybody else. He could be injured for six months and still be the fittest when he came back into training.
“Muzz played last weekend and he could easily get to the pace of a big game like this on Saturday.”
